Favorite Lithuania edges out Estonia in last seconds

The national basketball team was less than 30 seconds away from what would have been an historic victory over basketball-powerhouse Lithuania. Tonight's game against Latvia will be the last in the group stages at the European Championships with the winner going through to the next round.

Estonia faced Lithuania, which most had backed to win the group, on Wednesday evening at the European Championships in Riga.

Estonia began the game slowly, but did manage to lead by a few points in the middle of the first quarter. Lithuania rallied at the end of the first quarter to win it 20:15. The second quarter was similar, with Estonia going strong until the end, when Lithuania bounced back to win by 38:31.

Estonia regained the lead in the third quarter against a nation which has won seven basketball medals at world and European championships and three Olympic medals. Estonia led at the end of the third quarter 51:49.

Estonia pulled further away, leading 62:55 with less than four minutes to go. Estonia then saw Janar Talts, Estonia's top scorer, benched after five fouls, after which Lithuania drew level. Then Siim-Sander Vene, who plays club basketball in Lithuania, lost the ball with Lithuania scoring and taking a two-point-lead. With two seconds to go, Gregor Arbet had a chance to shoot, but missed a three-point shot, which would have given Estonia a win. The match ended 62:64 to Lithuania.

After two heavy defeats to the Czech Republic and Belgium, Estonia defeated Ukraine on Monday. Thursday's crunch match against Latvia will determine which of the two teams will make the play-off tournament, held in France.

Kelly Sildaru made free-skiing history on Friday when she topped the podium in Women's Ski Slopestyle competition, becoming the youngest athlete ever to win a gold medal at Winter X Games, world's leading extreme sports competition. She is also the shortest and the lightest winner of all times.

Businessman Urmas Sõõrumaa and former head of the Defense Forces Information Office Hannes Võrno have both sent letters to Estonian sports associations, expressing their willingness to run for president of the Estonian Olympic Committee (EOK) and highlighting their reasons and plans.

Estonia's young athlete of the year, Anett Kontaveit, 20, was unable to collect her award as she is traveling to China where she will begin her first season as Estonia's top tennis player, having passed Kaia Kanepi in the second half of 2015.

Olympic champion and discus thrower Gerd Kanter has been shortlisted for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes' Commission elections. If successful, Kanter would be the first Estonian to become a member.

Estonian top flight football club Tartu JK Tammeka started the country’s biggest sports crowdfunding campaign to renovate a Soviet-style stadium. The campaign lets every backer buy and name square meters of the soon-to-be-built artificial pitch with under-soil heating.

For its small population and limited funding opportunities, Estonia has done surprisingly well in athletics over the past few decades, with a respectable medal tally from Olympic Games, and World and European Championships. The seeds of this success lie in a rather unique initiative – Estonian Public Broadcasting's long-running youth sports program TV's 10 Olympic Starts, which started its 45th season last week.

On Tuesday evening, the Estonian national football team ended its season with a match against Caribbean minnows Saint Kitts and Nevis at A. Le Coq Stadium, in what was the team's distinguished goalkeeper Sergei Pareiko's last appearance in national colors.

An extreme sports center in the outskirts of Tallinn will open its doors in January. The center is unique in Europe and meets all international criteria, allowing new extreme sport competitions to be held in Estonia for the first time.

The Estonian national team scored three past Georgia in head coach Magnus Pehrsson's biggest win since taking charge in 2013. Estonia was facing a record low-scoring year until the game in Tallinn on Wednesday evening, having only scored six goals in 2015, while conceding eight.

The Estonian national football team faces two last opponents this year: Georgia on November 11 and St. Kitts and Nevis on November 17. Both matches will take place in Tallinn. Head coach Magnus Pehrsson has invited 26 players to the squad, although he said not all will have a chance to play.

FC Flora, confirmed the Estonian football league champions a few weeks ago, lost the last game of the league to Paide. Levadia has now changed head coaches and brought in Sergei Ratnikov, who won the first titles for Levadia 16 years ago.

Last year's football league champion FC Levadia drew 0-0 with Pärnu in the 34th round of the current season, meaning that with two games to go, FC Flora, which won on Sunday, is leading the table with eight points and is now uncatchable.

Less than 24 hours after Switzerland beat the Estonian national football team 1-0, scoring in the very last minute, the national volleyball team lost to Serbia in the play-offs of the European Championships, after racing into a 2-0 lead.

The Estonian national football team took on Switzerland in Tallinn's A le Coq Arena on Monday night, in what was its last match in the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying tournament. The game ended with a last minute own goal by Estonia, putting Switzerland ahead 1-0.